Yup, you read that right. Not robbed. Hijacked. From Sydsvenskan (my translation):
Sauce: https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2017-10-13/gang-kapade-livsmedelsbutik-och-drev-den-i-over-ett-dygn
Hijack my grocery store if old.
The owners of a grocery store in Malmö had been subjected to extortion attempts, according to the police.
- "There were armed threats. They tried a few times, but the owners refused to give them anything" says Mats Attin, station chief with the Malmö Police department.
The gang then moved on to threatening the owners in their home, a house in Malmö.
- "This obviously made them fear for their lives, to the point where they temporarily moved in with acquaintances in Copenhagen and let some other acquaintanties run the store".
On wednesday, the gang came back to the store.
- " They went into the store and took over. Like, they threw out the people working there and ran the store themselves and sold goods. They hijacked a grocery store!"
The gang couldn't access the register. Instead, they had the unknowing customers pay them using Swish [a Swedish banking service that allowes person-to-person bank transfers using only a phone number] and in cash. The people who were thrown out of the store were to scared to press charges, it wasn't until the owners learnt about the events the next day that the police was called in. The police approached the tip about the hijack most seriously and several patrols - som armed with automatic weapons - stormed the store and ended the storejacking.
- "The owners contacted us and we drove over with some plainsclothes and, sure enough, these four were in there. Regular Beagle Boys. They've been restocking the shelves with products from the storeroom in the back, we have it all on tape. It went on for at least a day", says Mats Attin.
He's almost speachless when he describes the strange event.
- "I've been in Malmö a long time, but I've never seen anything like it", he says.
Four persons are in custody with the police since thursday, suspected of several crimes. One of the persons arrested is considered the leader. He's a 24-year-old with a ten year rap sheet of suspicions, arrests and convictions for serious crimes, according to sources. He's established in the Seveds area of Malmö, where he and a relative have been criminally active for a long time, according to the police. The other men are 28, 25 and 21 years old.
- "We're having some trouble deciding what to charge them with. Besides felony extortion, we're also going for Taking Without Consent of the Owner". Then again, they've also sold products that didn't belong to them, that could be a kind of theft. This isn't something that's really covered at the police academy", says Mats Attin.
Sauce: https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2017-10-13/gang-kapade-livsmedelsbutik-och-drev-den-i-over-ett-dygn
Hijack my grocery store if old.